


Genius

by TFLatte



Category: Epithet Erased (Cartoon)
Genre: Gen, do you know how long it takes to become a psychologist sylvie is a BABY this boy needed friends stat, some depiction of children in peril, sometimes people show affection by teasing you and sometimes that takes some time to figure out
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-13
Updated: 2020-01-13
Packaged: 2021-02-27 03:54:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,142
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22220632
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TFLatte/pseuds/TFLatte
Summary: Sylvie liked Molly. She was - well, probably not his first friend, he was pretty sure he must have had one at some point, right? But she was definitely his first friend in a long time, and she was really nice. He worried about her sometimes, and he was still hoping she’d take him up on his offer of a free session.The problem with hanging out with Molly, though, was that a lot of the time, it meant being stuck with Giovanni.
Relationships: Molly Blyndeff & Giovanni Potage, Sylvester "Sylvie" Ashling & Molly Blyndeff, Sylvester "Sylvie" Ashling & Molly Blyndeff & Giovanni Potage
Comments: 21
Kudos: 187





	Genius

Sylvie liked Molly. She was - well, probably not his first friend, he was pretty sure he must have had _one_ at some point, right? But she was definitely his first friend in a long time, and she was really nice. He worried about her sometimes, and he was still hoping she’d take him up on his offer of a free session - although ethically he wasn’t sure if he could take her on as a long-term client, he still thought it wouldn’t hurt her to have a space to speak her mind and give him a chance to give her some tips on taking care of her mental health.

The problem with hanging out with Molly, though, was that a lot of the time, it meant being stuck with Giovanni.

“So, do you just have like a whole closet full of identical labcoats like a cartoon character?”

Sylvie couldn’t understand why Molly liked Giovanni so much. He was obnoxious and rude and _literally a criminal_ , but here she was smiling away as she walked between the two of them. She’d suggested they all get brunch together, and she’d seemed so excited by the idea he couldn’t bring himself to protest her other choice of invitee. Now he wished he had.

“Or is it like, you have a fancy formal labcoat with a bowtie on it and a pajama labcoat and a casual one?” Sylvie ground his teeth. He didn’t want to snap and make Molly deal with her friends fighting. As little personal experience as he had, he was reasonably sure that wouldn’t be fun for her.

He still didn’t have to take this from a guy who ran around committing crimes in a highly-visible cape and uniform. “I have a _doctorate_. Just because I choose to dress a little more professionally than _some_ people I could name-”

Giovanni snickered. “Professional _dork_ , maybe.”

Molly glanced between them. “Uh, Giovanni-”

Sylvie’s face burned. “I graduated college and got my psychology license in less than _half_ the time it takes most people to even come close to graduating! I’ve been practicing _and_ working on my own research for months!” He felt like he was in college again, older students all around him patronizing him for being younger than them when he was smarter and further along in his studies than any of them, practically cooing and patting him on the head whenever he tried to demand a little respect. He’d overloaded his schedule with as many classes as the school would let him take, taking full advantage of his Epithet to get everything done, and it still hadn’t proven anything to any of them.

“Psh, okay genius, if you say so.” 

“ _Stop making fun of me_!” Sylvie rounded on Giovanni, fists clenched. His nails dug into his palms.

“Whoa, what’s your problem?”

“You! _You’re_ the problem! You act like a _child_ bothering adults just to get attention!”

“Whoa, Sylvie-“

“Well, _you_ act like you’re smarter than everyone!”

“Boss!”

“I may not be smarter than _everyone_ , but I _am_ smarter than _you_!”

“Guys, come on, please don’t fight-“ Molly covered her ears, wincing, but for once neither of them noticed her. “Uh, uh - hey, look, a Speedy Eatie! How about I get us milkshakes?” She beat a hasty retreat into the building, away from the shouting. 

“Not smart enough not to get duped by _obvious_ bad guys!”

“Well - your Epithet is stupid!”

Giovanni gasped, scandalized. “You take that _back_!”

“Make me.” Sylvie crossed his arms, feeling victorious for all of four seconds. 

The fifth second was the one where Giovanni disappeared, and - “ _Teleports behind you_ ” - grabbed Sylvie in a headlock. He squawked and flailed, yelling incoherently as Giovanni cackled, and he was on the verge of resorting to Dream Big when-

 _BOOM_!

Giovanni dropped him and they both spun to face the storefront across the street. Smoke was roiling inside, already filling it and blocking the view through the windows. It flashed in a way that suggested a lot of flames behind the smoke. There was a rumble and the smoke billowed as something inside crashed down. Hanging over the windows, the neon Speedy Eatie sign was incongruously cheerful. 

“ _Molly!_ ”

Sylvie, for the first time in his life, didn’t bother looking both ways for cars. He sprinted heedlessly across the road, Giovanni overtaking him with his longer stride. As they reached the door, a figure stumbled out, coughing. Part of him wanted to dismiss them as _not Molly_ , but he threw out an arm to grab Giovanni and stop him. 

“What _happened_?! What’s going on in there?”

“Fryer blew up - don’t know how-“

“Did you see a kid come in?! Bear hoodie, stars in her hair-“

“She’s-” The employee looked around as several others scrambled out the door and cursed loudly. “I thought she was behind me! She ran behind the counter when we realized the fryer was going to go-“

Giovanni wrenched out of Sylvie’s grip and burst into the restaurant. Sylvie chased after him, pulling his hoodie up to cover his mouth and nose. Giovanni was already shouting. 

“Bear Trap! Where are you? _Bear_ -” He broke into a coughing fit as Sylvie caught up. He grabbed Giovanni’s hood, yanking it to get his attention. 

“Cover your face! The smoke!” Inside, they could hear the flames crackling, and Sylvie’s brain unhelpfully provided him the mental image of Molly in the museum, surrounded by fire and reduced to tears as she cowered behind Giovanni. At the time he’d just been _smug_ about it, secure in the knowledge that he was protecting academia, enjoying the power a little too much, dismissing them as small-minded criminals who deserved it anyway. And now Molly was trapped in here with her greatest fear _again_ , and if he’d just listened-

A hand grabbed his shoulder, shaking him out of his spiral. “Hey, genius!” Giovanni snapped. “Focus! Bear Trap needs us!”

“R-right!” Sylvie straightened up, looking around. They didn’t have time to waste. “That worker said she went behind the counter - that way!” And the flames were thickest there, because of course they were, the shadows of the counters and kitchen equipment backlit through the smoke. The outlines looked wrong, and this time Giovanni grabbed him, pulling him a step back as the ceiling groaned threateningly. 

“Watch it! It’s coming down!” It already had, in places. There was a large chunk of rubble resting against the wall where it had fallen. 

“Then we’d better move fast.” Sylvie looked up at the ceiling. “Be ready to move in. I don’t know how long I can hold it.”

“...Oh, you’ve gotta be kidding me.”

Sylvie didn’t bother answering, or even shouting as he shut his eyes. He couldn’t afford to waste air. Dimly, he wondered if Beefton would behave as an air filter, and what would happen if smoke inhalation overcame him while he was using Dream Big. Then he collapsed. 

Giovanni launched himself forward. His minions needed him to lead them to safety. He wasn’t afraid, definitely not. Giovanni Potage wasn’t afraid of a little thing like burning buildings that were coming down around him. It was just hot with all the fire, that was the only reason he was sweating. Behind him, Beefton bellowed and charged forward just in time to catch a piece of the ceiling as it fell, hurling it to one side. Giovanni vaulted over the counter, looking around frantically. She _had_ to be here somewhere-

There was something small lying on the floor, burning. Just enough of it was left for him to recognize the color - one of the lavender stars from Bear Trap’s hair. It was on the floor by a huge piece of wood and - whatever else ceilings were made of propped against the wall and some stoves, and he spun around. 

“Over here! Hurry up!” He looked around for something to try and use to lever the wreckage away from the wall, but the flicker of fire caught his eye. Flames were spreading down the wall and starting to lick over the wood. He called up a Lava Grenade in a hurry, splashing it over the fire that had started to catch on the rubble. A whiff of tomato basil reached him before it was overwhelmed by the smells of smoke and burning oil, and he pushed his hand through a gap between the wood and the counter, feeling around till his hand hit a familiar piece of cloth. “Gotcha!”

Beefton stumbled over, one arm covering his mouth as monster coughs tore out of him. He grabbed the rubble and heaved it aside. The crash as it hit the floor was drowned out by the roaring fire around them, not that they cared, even though Beefton was starting to shrink. Molly was curled up in a ball, face hidden against her knees, and for a heart-stopping moment she didn’t move. Giovanni scooped her up, panic setting in. “Molly? Bear Trap, can you hear me?” He was trying to remember how CPR worked when she flung herself at him and clung to his neck, whimpering in terror. He sagged with relief. “I gotcha, kiddo. Don’t worr-“

 _CRASH_.

For two seconds, Giovanni couldn’t see anything. Then light filtered back in, accompanied by a pained groan from overhead.

“Get _out of there_!” Beefton and Sylvie’s voices were mixed together, and Giovanni took his cue and scrambled out with his littlest minion hiding her face against his shoulder. He reached back blindly and grabbed a fistful of labcoat, yanking, and Sylvie fell next to him just as the piece of the building that had nearly landed on them crashed to the ground. He groaned weakly and Giovanni pulled him up by the collar as he started shaking off sleep.

“I’m simmering in my own sweat here, let’s _go_!”

Sylvie didn’t answer, just grabbed his arm and stumbled towards the exit. Molly was holding so tight to Giovanni her arms shook. All of them were coughing, chests burning. Sirens were screaming, so close - they were so close to safety - the whole world narrowed down to the three of them and the cool, clean air Sylvie could see ahead of them. 

They burst through the front doors to a chorus of collapse inside, and if it hadn’t been for the emergency services’ timely arrival, all three of them would have collapsed themselves right there on the sidewalk, wracked with coughing fits. Hands guided them over to an ambulance, where Molly was coaxed off of Giovanni with extreme reluctance, and as soon as she released his neck she immediately burrowed into Sylvie’s side. For a moment, he struggled to think of something to say. Then he just gave up and put a cautious arm around her. She pressed closer against him and he decided that probably meant he’d gotten it right. On his other side, Giovanni sat down heavily and one lanky shoulder bumped Sylvie’s and stayed there. He tensed for a second, then consciously relaxed again - though if either of them had said anything, he would of course have insisted that the way he minutely leaned into the contact was just from being stamina-drained. 

It took several hours for them to be pronounced fit to be released. Molly had a few minor bruises, but her Epithet had dumbed down enough damage from the initial explosion and from the falling rubble that she would be fine - physically, at least. Sylvie and Giovanni were both subject to oxygen masks until the doctors were satisfied. They were sent on their way with strict instructions to come back if their symptoms worsened, and piled onto a bench outside to decide what to do now.

“Well...that sucked.”

“Yup.”

“Uh-huh.”

“Are you, uh - okay?” Sylvie looked over at Molly. There were a few spots in her afro where it looked like the explosion must have scorched her stars. He hoped they didn’t have nerve endings.

“The doctor said so. So I must be fine!” She smiled at him and he felt a pang in his chest. That wasn’t what he’d meant. 

“I’m sorry. You could’ve gotten hurt-”

“It’s not your fault! I don’t think the equipment in there was very up to code.”

“But you were upset because we were fighting.”

“Uh, just pointing out, if we’d been fighting I totally would’ve beat your nerd a-” Giovanni cleared his throat. “-butt. Like last time.” He buffed his nails on his shirt.

“Look, just-” _Be the bigger man, Sylvie_. “I’m...sorry I yelled at you.”

“You what?” GiovannI gave him a blank look.

“...yelled at you? Told you you were immature? It happened literally this morning?”

“Oh, that. Psh, that was nothing.” Giovanni waved it off. “My mom and I yell at each other all the time, it’s whatever.”

Sylvie sputtered for a second, dismayed that his totally reasonable apology had been so cavalierly dismissed, but Molly leaned over and patted his hand. He took a deep breath. “Nevertheless. I shouldn’t have snapped at you like that.”

“Just don’t do it again, I am your boss after all-oof!”He looked down at Molly, who crossed her arms and gave him an (adorably) stern look. Huffing, Giovanni rolled his eyes. “And even though it’s my job to berate you, that’s supposed to be as needed, so, I guess I’m sorry too. Or whatever.”

“...You know what? Good enough. I’ll take it.” Sylvie sighed and slumped back against the bench. “I’m _exhausted_.”

“Ugh, I know. I don’t wanna go home yet though, I was supposed to do chores this morning.”

“Yeah...I have a shift today, too…”

“Are you kidding?! There’s no way you can go back to work now!”

“I know, but my sister’s out all day and Dad’s probably still in his workshop,” Molly sighed. “It’s okay. It’s only a half shift this time.” Giovanni elbowed Sylvie sharply and glared at him, gesturing significantly at her.

Sylvie cleared his throat. “Speaking as a licensed therapist-”

“Is this my free session? You have to tell me or it’s entrapment.”

“I don’t think it’d be healthy for you to jump right back into work after our experience today. Physically or mentally.”

“Exactly!” Giovanni struck a pose. “I was totally gonna say that, but I figured I’d let you do the honors.” Sylvie rolled his eyes, but Molly’s lips twitched in a hint of a smile. “Bear Trap, Genius, I think we’ve earned a day off, don’t you?”

Sylvie blinked, several things suddenly slotting into place, and he chuckled slightly, adjusting his glasses. “Sure. You know, they might even let us in for free.”

“You think so?” Molly gave him a look like she wasn’t sure where he was going with this.

“I mean, totally, but uh, why don’t you tell Bear Trap why?”

Sylvie smirked, adjusting his glasses. “Well, after that, you’re practically a _superhero_ now.”

“ _You take that back right now I am the world’s greatest up-and-coming villain_ -”Behind Giovanni, Molly smothered a giggle, and Sylvie let himself enjoy a job well done, strolling down the sidewalk with his hands in his pockets to the tune of an outraged rant about investing in one’s minions.

* * *

Molly had, with a little convincing, gotten Sylvie and Giovanni to agree to stay in for a movie night. “Convincing” mostly just meant saying “we can take showers and not be all gross and smoky,” but she was still proud of herself. And she hadn’t wanted to say it, but the smell had gotten all mixed up with Sylvie’s cologne smell and that had been kind of gross too(and maybe made her a little anxious, but they didn’t have to know that). So she was really glad she’d spoken up. They’d ended up back at Sylvie’s place in the end, and she’d been thrilled to find out that his room was exactly as cozy as she’d secretly envisioned it. She immediately set about dragging all the blankets together into a nest for them to curl up in.

“You know I’m going to have to put those back, right?” Sylvie sighed dramatically, but he came over to help her untuck the blankets and pile them up, so she figured he was really okay with it. Giovanni immediately started moving furniture and stretching blankets across it, and Molly pushed a heap of pillows beneath the chairs that served as their fort pillars.

“There!” Giovanni stepped back, hands on his hips as he admired their handiwork. “Fort Coolguy, Mark Two, is complete!”

“It looks really cozy!” Molly beamed. “Though I did like that Mark One had the bears...for a while.”

“Hmm...what about-”

“Beefton is not coming out because you want imaginary guards.”

“But what kind of evil lair is it without muscle to keep out the riffraff??”

“It’s not an evil lair! It’s a blanket fort in a bedroom!”

“So? Bedrooms can be evil lairs too! Mine is!”

“I’m not building an evil lair in my bedroom!”

“Huh. Maybe I’m just a better villain than you,” Giovanni mused. Sylvie looked like he didn’t know whether to argue, and settled on just throwing up his hands. Molly giggled.

“It’s okay, we don’t need guards. We just need candy!”

Sylvie smirked. “Oh, please. As usual, I’m two steps ahead.” He produced a colorful bag from inside his hoodie pocket. Molly perked up and Giovanni reached for it, but he stowed it again, wagging a finger. “Ah, ah, ah. First you have to say the password.”

“The what now?”

“It’s ‘Sylvie is the smartest and the best and we’re lucky we know him.’”

“Excuse me?”

“Sylvie is the smartest and the best and we’re lucky we know him,” Molly recited dutifully, giggling, and Sylvie immediately handed her a piece of candy.

“Why thank you, Molly, you’re pretty smart yourself.”

“Thanks!”

“Yeah, yeah, just gimme-”

“Excuse me! Molly said the password, so Molly can have candy, but I didn’t hear anything from _you_ ,” Sylvie adjusted his glasses, which gleamed as he grinned wickedly.

Giovanni groaned for about ten seconds straight. “Sylvie is the smartest and the best _to noogie_ -!”

“ _Gah no get off me you jerk_ -”

“Hand over the candy! As your boss, I get first pick of the treasure!”

“I don’t work for you!”

By the time Sylvie had freed himself, he was a lot more rumpled than before, Giovanni had claimed the candy, and Molly’s stomach hurt from laughing so much. Sylvie plopped down into the pillows, grabbing the remote to turn on the TV and pick a movie. Giovanni sprawled out on the other side of the fort, making himself comfortable and pulling a blanket around his shoulders. Molly picked the spot in the middle, where the pillows were thickest and softest. Snuggled up between the two of them, Molly pulled the blanket up to her chin and sighed happily. Giovanni ruffled her hair absently, and Sylvie leaned against her shoulder, and Molly smiled.

**Author's Note:**

> There was initially going to be a villain in this, but I decided inventing and establishing a new character evil enough to terrorize Molly was difficult and unnecessary. Instead the real villain is unsafe workplace conditions. Howie would be outraged.


End file.
